Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system integrated input devices, and more particularly, to an information handling system planar integrated button touch pad assembly.
Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Portable information handling systems typically integrate input and output (I/O) devices in a portable housing so that end users can interact with the information handling system on-the-go. The smallest portable housings tend to have only touchscreen display that serves as both the input and output device. For example, portable smartphone and tablet devices typically have a one-piece planar housing that has a touchscreen display integrated in one side. End users view information with the display and input information with touches made at the display, such as at a depiction of a keyboard. Although convenient due to their small size, touchscreen displays tend to be awkward for users who need to make large data inputs, such as when working with word processing. Portable information handling systems that have larger housings also have space to integrate a physical keyboard into the housing. A common housing configuration for integrating a physical keyboard is a clamshell or convertible configuration in which a main housing rotationally couples to a lid housing. The main housing typically integrates processing components and the keyboard while the lid housing integrates a display. Rotating the lid housing open exposes the display in an elevated viewing position and the keyboard below the display for convenient use.
Integrating a keyboard in an information handling system improves end user interactions by enhancing how inputs are mechanically performed, however, end users also tend to make inputs through a pointing device, such as a mouse. Larger-sized portable information handling systems will sometimes include an integrated touchpad or integrated button touch pad that accepts pointing device inputs. For example, the main housing integrates the keyboard in a portion located near the hinges and a capacitive touchpad is placed in front of the keyboard to accept touch inputs. An end user makes touch inputs by touching and dragging a finger across the touchpad to move the cursor on the display. An end user can also typically make a left or right mouse click input by touching separate buttons placed at the base of the touchpad. An integrated button touch pad differs from a touchpad in that the integrated button touch pad provides the user with a solid touch surface that does not have separate buttons. Instead, the end user presses on a corner of the integrated button touch pad to make a button input by moving the solid touching surface on the side of the intended input.
One difficulty with integrating a integrated button touch pad into a portable information handling system housing is that housings of different sizes tend to have integrated button touch pads of different dimensions. The X and Y dimensions of an integrated button touch pad tend to increase in proportion to the size of the portable housing, with larger housings having larger integrated button touch pads based upon the amount of room available on the main housing upper surface. The Z dimension, however, tend to depend more upon ID concept of the portable housing, such as housing materials and appearance. In order to adapt to different-sized housings, conventional integrated button touch pads typically include brackets and spring mechanisms that are modified for each unique system design. Such modifications often negatively impact integrated button touch pad performance, such as by changing the force and amount of displacement associated with a click input. Variance in performance tends to arise with introduction of mounting corrections, such as bent sheet metal tabs and features that have large tolerances relative to the intended displacement associated with ideal functional displacement.